Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

Explosives detection system (EDS) maker InVision Technologies Inc. and General Electric agreed to extend how long they can wait to terminate their merger, from Oct. 31 to Dec. 27, InVision said Nov. 1. The $900 million acquisition of InVision by GE is being held up by U.S. Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission investigations of the California-based EDS manufacturer, according to Aerospace Daily affiliate Aviation Daily.

Australia, Canada and Italy have emerged as the most likely international candidates to join the development effort for the U.S. Navy's Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) program, officials said Nov. 4.

The final flight of NASA's X-43A hypersonic demonstrator from Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif., has been postponed to give priority to the launch of the agency's Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology (DART) spacecraft from the same range.

DHB Industries Inc. of Westbury, N.Y., has received a $24.6 million body armor order for the U.S. mission in Iraq, the company said Nov. 4. DHB Industries has received $78.6 million in new orders in the past 30 days, the company said. A $19 million order was announced on Oct. 29 and more than $35 million in orders on Oct. 5.

The U.S. Army and Navy have awarded AAI Corp., a subsidiary of Hunt Valley, Md.-based United Industrial Corp., two contracts worth $3.6 million for Advanced Boresight Equipment (ABE) systems that align weapon stations and sensors on various military aircraft, the company said Nov. 4.

Correction: In a Nov. 4 DAILY story headlined "HP, LM form alliance for defense, security work," quotes attributed to Mark Stouse, director of external communications for HP, should have been attributed to Bill Mutell, head of public sector health and education for the company.

Communications and avionics electronics maker Rockwell Collins reported net income for fiscal 2004 grew by 17 percent over 2003, going from $258 million to $301 million. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based company said sales for FY '04 increased $388 million, or 15 percent, to reach a record $2.93 billion.

Stewart & Stevenson Tactical Vehicle Systems of Houston has been awarded a $21.1 million contract modification to produce 385 Low Signature Armored Cabs (LSAC) for the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV), the company said Nov. 2. The cabs will be manufactured in Sealy, Texas, and the estimated completion date is Feb. 28, the company said. The LSAC provides protection from small arms fire, artillery, land mines and roadside bombs, the company said. Armor Holdings Inc. will provide key armoring components for the cabs.

The Syracuse Research Corp. won a $2.3 million increment on Oct. 29 as part of an $8.7 million research and development contract for the Army's Lightweight Counter Mortar Radar (LCMR) Enhancement program, the U.S. Department of Defense said Nov. 3. Work will be performed in Syracuse, N.Y., and is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2006. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to fly Northrop Grumman's Hunter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to perform surveillance over Arizona's border with Mexico, following a successful series of flights using the Israeli-built Hermes UAV that took place over the summer.

AVIATION PROTECTION SYSTEMS INC., Miami Robert A. Heber has been appointed vice president for operations. CPI AEROSTRUCTURES, Edgewood, N.Y. Arthur August, CPI's co-founder, will step down as chairman of the board of directors and become chairman emeritus effective Jan. 1. Eric S. Rosenfeld, director and chairman of CPI's strategic planning committee, will become nonexecutive chairman of the board on Jan. 1. DYNAMICS RESEARCH CORP., Andover, Mass.

Lockheed Martin has been selected as the Common Submarine Radio Room (CSSR) software design and interim software support agent for the Seawolf-class submarine, the company said Nov. 2.

POSTPONED: The launch of NASA's much-delayed Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology (DART) spacecraft has been delayed again, due to availability problems with the launch range and "the lingering effects of solar activity," NASA said Nov. 3. A new launch date is being reviewed.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) plans to award $1.5 million each to the Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman-led teams competing in the Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft (UCAR) program, DARPA announced Nov. 3. Both teams have been authorized to continue development of their respective UCAR demonstrator systems while DARPA and the Army attempt to resolve funding issues hanging over the program that have delayed contractor downselect and the beginning of Phase III.

General Electric and Rolls-Royce, which are developing the F136 alternate engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, have been awarded a $122 million contract to establish a "bridge" between the propulsion system's pre-system development and demonstration (pre-SDD) and SDD phases, the Defense Department announced late Nov. 3. The contract will "protect SDD program milestones and mitigate technical, schedule and cost risk," DOD said.

The United States and its international partners in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program have concluded a two-day meeting to review the jet's progress.

Hewlett-Packard and Lockheed Martin have formed a strategic global alliance to compete for international defense and homeland security contracts, the companies said Nov. 3. "Lockheed Martin is the largest defense contractor and HP is the largest government IT [information technology] contractor and has a large footprint outside the United States," Art Johnson, senior vice president of corporate strategic development for Lockheed Martin, told reporters.

Defense programs that are not transformational could get canceled in coming years, those with performance and development issues will be scrutinized and new starts will get pushed to the right, said Jim Albaugh, president and CEO of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. Albaugh spoke on Nov. 3 at the Goldman Sachs Global Capital Goods Conference in New York. "Programs must emphasize mobility, integrated command and control, precision strike, and global situational awareness, or else they're at risk of being canceled," he said.

Lockheed Martin's Sniper XR/PANTERA advanced targeting pod (ATP) data downlink capability has been successfully flight-tested on a Norwegian F-16 aircraft, the company said Nov. 3. The test, conducted at Bodo Air Force Base in Bodo, Norway, was the first flight for the Sniper XR-based downlink capability.

In a combined training effort, the Swedish navy will provide the U.S. Navy with a Swedish advanced diesel submarine and crew for U.S. Navy fleet anti-submarine warfare (ASW) training, the U.S. Department of Defense said on Oct. 29. The two navies will stress integrated and focused ASW training and assessment of the U.S. Navy's fleet ASW operations, as well as tactics, doctrine, and ASW education, the Defense Department said. The partnership will begin in early 2005.

A Pentagon policy shop is questioning the Defense Department's decision to pick only one supplier for the Small Diameter Bomb (SDB), saying the United States needs a broader industrial base to keep its technological edge in such precision weapons.

The European Union's (EU) pricing plan for certain Galileo satellite navigation services is expected to emerge toward the end of the year, according to Michael Shaw, director of navigation and spectrum policy for the U.S. Transportation Department. "The Europeans are faced with how do we fund for this system, and at least they would like to charge for some of these services," Shaw said during a presentation at the Air Traffic Controllers Association (ATCA) symposium in Washington on Nov. 3.

The Department of Defense's addressable operations and maintenance (O&M) budget is forecast to grow from $34 billion in fiscal 2006 to $42 billion in fiscal 2015, the Government Electronics and Information Technology Association (GEIA) says in its 40th annual 10-year forecast of defense spending. The total O&M budget will grow to $159.6 billion in fiscal 2015 from $140.6 billion in fiscal 2005, GEIA said Oct. 29.

General Dynamics Amphibious Systems (GDAMS) won a $135.9 million modification contract to continue the system development and demonstration (SDD) phase of the U.S. Marine Corps' Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV), the Department of Defense said Nov. 1. "This contract is in support of the work that assists the Marines during the operational assessment phase, which will run from March through the second quarter of 2006," Peter Keating, vice president of communications and public affairs for General Dynamics Land Systems, told The DAILY.